The ACCEL Africa Project to hold Capitalisation Workshop to Highlight Success in Eliminating Child Labour in Nigeria

Article | Abuja, Nigeria | 20 March 2023
Children beneficiaries of the ACCEL Africa project return to school
Abuja, Nigeria - The Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa project (ACCEL Africa) in Nigeria is set to hold a two-day capitalisation workshop to showcase the project's success in eliminating child labour in Nigeria. The workshop will take place from the 21st to 22nd of March 2023 at the UN House in Abuja.

The ACCEL Africa Project, launched in Nigeria on the 2nd of May 2019, aims to eliminate child labour in Africa through targeted actions in supply chains in Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, and Uganda. In Nigeria, the project has collaborated with various stakeholders and implementation agencies to carry out direct implementation of some activities indicated in the workplan to achieve the desired output.

The capitalisation workshop will highlight the activities that have been conducted and the successes of the project since its inception, its success stories, and discuss what’s next. Participants will be provided with information on how the implemented actions are being sustained, lessons learnt through interventions, project information, education and communication materials, documents, and pictures through an exhibition. The workshop aims to create a forum for exchanging experiences among donors and stakeholders on the elimination of child labour.

The expected results of the meeting are the validation of the National Survey on Child Labour and Forced Labour presented, awareness of the achievements of the ACCEL Africa Project in Nigeria, dissemination of challenges, lessons learnt, and success stories of the project, and discussion and documentation of the way forward on the elimination of child labour in Nigeria.

The workshop will feature the presentation of the compilation of laws on child labour, the simplified compendium of child labour laws, and the report of the recently concluded National Child Labour and Forced Labour survey amongst others.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a high probability of the risk of reverting years of progress, thus the increase in child labour at the country level and globally. For this reason, the ACCEL Africa project implements targeted actions to curb child labour in the Cocoa and the Artisanal Gold Mining sectors. The project has recorded remarkable success and accomplishments, including the enrolment and re-enrolment of 1400 children who were engaged in child labour back into school as well as the empowerment of over 800 youths and adults who have improved their standard of living and economic status, thereby breaking the cycle of poverty which is the major cause of Child Labour.

The capitalisation workshop will be facilitated by the ACCEL Africa Project team in Nigeria in collaboration with members of the National Steering Committee on the elimination of child labour.